Apostille Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates in Germany for use in the United States and abroad
We obtain and authenticate Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates from Germany when required for presentation to authorities abroad.
We can obtain apostille stamps to certify German civil status certificates: Birth Certificate (Geburtsurkunde), Death Certificates (Sterbeurkunde) and Marriage Certificates (Heiratsurkunde) from the State Authority of the state where the event took place.
Authorities of countries that have signed the Apostille Convention will recognise the Apostille directly as confirmation of authenticity.
When required for submission to countries that do not recognise Apostilles (e.g. 
Qatar - Kuwait - United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Vietnam), we legalize original certificates at the German Federal Office of Foreign Affairs and then at the embassy of the recipient country in Berlin.
Apostilled and legalized certificates are delivered to clients worldwide by secure courier.
The Apostille process for civil status certificates in Germany can take anywhere from 1 business day to 3 - 4 weeks depending on the state.
In most cases, German birth, death and marriage certificates are only valid for an Apostille stamp if they have been issued within the last 3 months. If your certificate is older than 3 months, a new copy should be ordered from the German registry office. Please contact us for assistance.
Submission within the European Union
German certificates of civil status (marriage, death and birth certificates) do not require an Apostille stamp when required for submission in another Member State of the European Union. For further information, see:
Regulation (EU) 2016/1191
Civil status certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers)
German birth, marriage and death certificates) issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status should not require Apostille Stamps when being submitted to one of the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, France, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.
Exceptions to Apostille Convention (Documents issued in Germany)
Germany has objected to the accession of certain States to the Apostille Convention (including India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tunisia and Morocco), so that the Convention does not apply between Germany and these states. Documents required for these states may also require additional attestation by the embassy of the recipient embassy in Berlin.
For a full list of countries with which the Apostille Convention applies in relation to German documents, see:
Countries where Apostille Convention applies in relation to Germany
How to obtain German Civil Status Certificates
Isarey can assist with obtaining marriage, death and birth certificates in Germany for clients based aboard requiring a German Apostille stamp. We can obtain certificates directly from the respective German registry office (Standesamt). This takes 2 - 8 weeks depending on the registry office.
Please contact us for details.
German marriage, death and birth certificates
German marriage, death and birth certificates are available in German only or in a standard international multilingual format (Internationale Geburtsurkunde).
Certified copies of German Civil Status Certificates are available from the German registry office (Standesamt) in the village, municipality or city where the event took place.
Birth Certificates - certified excerpts: German birth certificates are also available as a certified extract of the entry in the register. The extract includes all information originally recorded when the birth was registered and may be required by certain overseas authorities for certain process in place of a standard certificate (available in German only).
German civil status certificates are restricted, which means copies can only be obtained by the person named in the certificate or close relative.
German death certificates normally specify the purpose for which the original copy of the death certificate was issued and do not include the cause of death.Civil status certificates for events occurring outside Germany
German civil status certificates for births, deaths and marriages occurring outside Germany are available from the State Office for Civil and Regulatory Affairs (Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten) in Berlin when the corresponding event is recorded at the registry office. Certificates are also available for births occurring in the former Eastern territories of the German Reich and Prussia
Certificates for births occurring on U.S. bases in Germany
German birth certificates will not have been issued for the births of U.S. citizens born in a U.S. Military Hospital. In these cases, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad will have been issued by the U.S. Department of State.
Certified translations of German death, marriage and birth certificates
When presenting German marriage, death and birth certificates and other vital records in countries which do not have German as an official language, then a certified translation may be required. The certified translation must meet the requirements of the destination country, so that a translation done locally in Germany may not be valid.
Isarey works with local notaries and sworn translators in a wide range of destination countries. We'll take care of the entire legalization and translation process, so that your certificates are correctly translated and ready to submit:
- BRAZIL: translations into Brazilian Portuguese must be certified by an Official Public Translator in Brazil ("Tradução juramentada")
- SPAIN: translator must be authorised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs ("Traducción Jurada")
- FRANCE: translations into French must be certified by a translator accredited by a French court of appeal (Cour d'appel)
- ITALY: translations must be authenticated by a Court Clerk or by a Notary Public in Italy
- PORTUGAL: translations into Portuguese can be certified in Portugal by a local notary
For further information about our German apostille service and about legalizaing birth, death and marriage certificates issued in Germany for use in the United States and abroad, use our online quotation form or send us an email us. We will get back to you directly with a quotation and details of how to proceed: